Saturday, June 30, 2012

Another great afternoon in Tompkins Square Park today with Alpha Women Attack the LES ... Here, some photos of the Gorgeous Ladies of Bloodwrestling! and the Good to Go Girls ... all photos by Bobby Williams..

Friday, June 29, 2012

Oh, yes — it's Jugger-nut with "My Sciatica," directed and everything by Nicholas Parish. And catch Jugger-nut's last show at the Bowery Poetry Club late Saturday night (early Sunday morning?) ... at 1 a.m.

The inaugural CBGB Festival starts next Thursday and runs through July 8. More than 300 bands will play at 35 venues in Manhatan and Brooklyn... there are also films and conferences and stuff.

Anyway, the CBGB Festival folks, with a big hat tip to East Village Radio, passed along some free individual full-combo passes to the fest for EV Grieve readers. Gives you access to the film, music and conference panels. You're on your own with the booze and bath salts.

Thanks everyone! We gave them all away.

So we have six individual passes to give away.

In lieu of a contest or telling us about your favorite CBGB bathroom moment ... the first six people who email us can can have them... or at least the info about how you get them.

Oh, and you can use the EV Grieve email here. And it is for ONE pass — good for access to the whole festival. (Not two passes for each person.)

And you must be 21... and plan on actually going and not forgetting about it later...

[Image via the CBGB Facebook page by one of our favorites, Danny Hellman.]

The CBGB biopic starring Alan Rickman as Hilly Kristal is filming in Savannah, Ga., both on Broughton Street (on Paula Deen's block!) where we think the bar's exterior above was created... and in a studio ... the crew replicated the inside of the bar in Savannah's Meddin Studios, where all the interior shots will take place...

There's news to report about St. Brigid's, the under-renovation church on Avenue B and East Eighth Street. Good scoop in the current issue of The Villager, where Albert Amateau reports that St. Emeric’s Church, built in 1950 at 740 E. 13th St. at Avenue D, will close and merge with St. Brigid's.

A few passages:

Joseph Zwilling, archdiocese spokesperson, said he hoped for a September opening of St. Brigid and St. Emeric but he was not able to give a definite date.

Father Lorenzo Ato, priest in charge at St. Emeric for the past four years, will be the pastor of the new parish and has already moved into the rectory. Ato, a native of Peru, will also continue to serve as assistant director for Hispanic media for the archdiocese.

Zwilling said there was no decision yet on the disposition of the St. Emeric’s church building or the two-story parochial school built in 1952 next door on E. 12th St. and Avenue D.

Anyway, a tipster hears that a dog-grooming business is opening here. A little fishy seeing as the rent was upwards of $15K for the main floor, but it has been empty for some time...

Last August, Patrick Hedlund at DNAinfo reported: "We don’t think you can get a liquor license at this point because of so much negative history,” said ... a broker for Coldwell Banker, noting her client is growing desperate to bring in a new tenant."

We heard from Danny Frost, who confirmed the rumor. He said the space will be home to Ruff Club, "a social club for dogs."

"We think of it as an updated take on 'doggie daycare' with an eye toward the unique tastes and lifestyles of our East Village neighbors," said Frost, an East Village resident. "A major piece of our concept is a dog-and-human-friendly space in our clubhouse where members can socialize, create stuff, or maybe even get a little work done."

Subject to licensing, they do intend to offer grooming (and eventually boarding) services. By the way, they are taking the first floor and basement. The karate kids will stay as the tenants upstairs...

And, for the record (based on those comments to this post!): "We do not intend to offer food or drink."

During a walk by Lucky Cheng's last night... people were checking out the DOH sticker on the basement door here on First Avenue... According to the DOH, the city issued 79 violation points, including for the usual "evidence" of things as well as for a variety of flies...

Back in April, owner Hayne Suthon told us that they'd hope to move in mid-July, though that timetable wasn't a definite.

Updated 10:44 a.m.
Suthon responded to our email... She says that the inspector arrived Wednesday afternoon, after the space had been closed since Saturday night... and while the bar-restaurant was not open yet for business.

"We do our DOH walkthrough every night a little over an hour before we open, with a manager and kitchen manager," she said via email. "[The inspector] just walked in because the door happened to be open. The manager was not even there, the kitchen guys just recently arrived, the porters just started cleaning."

Suthon also takes exception with elements of the report; that some of what was in the report is wrong, such as the time element of the inspection.

"Interesting time warp. I think he realized into the inspection that we were neither open nor even close to opening ... If he had come in when we were open, the porters would had fully cleaned, we would have done our DOH nightly walkthrough — this would not have happened."

In any event, she said that "we fixed what we needed to fix." And she expects to be back open as usual tonight.

Dunno if I never noticed the "Sex and the City" CitySights NY tour buses before... like this one that stopped on First Avenue near East Ninth Street... and yes — tourists do have to enter the bus between her legs.

Peau d'Âne (English: Donkey Skin) is a 1970 French musical film directed by Jacques Demy. It is also known by the English titles Once Upon a Time and The Magic Donkey. The film was adapted by Demy from Donkeyskin, a fairy tale by Charles Perrault about a king who wishes to marry his daughter. It stars Catherine Deneuve and Jean Marais, with music by Michel Legrand.

And please, save all your Woos for Catherine Deneuve until the end of the film.

Here's a snippet of the action...

Oh. Could I buy some pot from you?

The Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the City of New York Parks & Recreation sponsor the Films on the Green series. The movie starts at 8:30 p.m. ... and is in French with English subtitles ...

He was hanging out on a tree on Avenue D and 12th street. A young guy named Jorge called us at around 8am. After many false alarms in the past two days, this was truly our parrot ...
Without the support of the amazing community this would have not been possible. Thanks you to all of you who helped ...

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Bobby Williams checks out the preparation for tonight's free screening of "Taxi Driver." And as you can see, the films this summer will be shown in Crusty Meadow the grassy area in the middle of the Park... Am curious if security will be checking bags ...

Now, Grub Street gets confirmation that Proletariat, the 10-seat bar that opened in the back of the Bunnery in May, is taking over the full space... and they will open in the expanded storefront tomorrow.

In addition, the bar will eventually add a food menu that includes beer-steamed mussel buckets, baked clams and "more beer-friendly fare," Grub Street reported.

A little outside our usual boundaries... but maybe this might impact someone's shopping routine... Crain's (via Racked) reports that a Fairway is opening in the Second Avenue strip mall that also houses the (often pleasant) AMC Loews Kips Bay 15 ... the grocery will replace the Office Depot and Crunch Gym there at 30th Street.

Had a neighbor who'd always make a weekend morning/afternoon out of hitting either the Harlem or UWS Fairway... I recall going once and being impressed... and wishing that it was closer to home.

A few minutes ago... a reader noted that the man, now sitting in Avenue A, got clipped by a northbound M14, which was idling just past St. Mark's Place ... we don't have all the details... but the man did appear to be talking to the EMTs on the scene...

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